NCAA Division II Elite Eight | West Liberty rolls over Winona State

Bucket brigade tops its scoring average

Mar. 29, 2013

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West Liberty's Alex Falk drives against Winona State on Thursday at Freedom Hall in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. / Bill Luster/Special to The Courier-Journal

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Top-ranked West Liberty overwhelmed Winona State in the second half for a 110-84 victory in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at Freedom Hall on Thursday. The Hilltoppers (34-1) advanced to Saturday’s national semifinals against Metro State (31-2) at noon.

West Liberty, the highest-scoring team in the nation, exceeded its average of 103.4 points per game. It grabbed a 50-41 halftime lead and outscored the Warriors 60-43 after the break. Winona State had only lost twice all season by double digits and by no more than 15.

“We were extremely motivated all week,” said West Liberty senior Alex Falk, who scored 23 points. “All week we were pretty serious at practice. A little bit more serious than we normally are. We knew what we had to accomplish. We watched a lot of film on Winona State. They’re a great team and we knew we had to bring everything we had for 40 minutes.”

The Hilltoppers, who have never reached the title game, were upset in last year’s quarterfinals by Stonehill (Mass.) and were knocked off by BYU-Hawaii in the 2011 semifinals. The winner of Saturday’s semifinals will play in Atlanta on April 7.

West Liberty, true to its style, scored the game’s first points in four seconds on a layup off the opening tip. But the Hilltoppers began the game 2 of 8 from the field and trailed 34-32 with 6:57 left in the first half. Falk made a jumper to start an 11-0 run, and West Liberty never trailed again.

“We made a couple of stops, made a few buckets,” said coach Jim Crutchfield, whose team notched its 20th straight victory. “I’d like to tell you that I had some words of wisdom, but it’s what these guys did on the floor.”

In the second half, ahead 60-53, West Liberty scored the next 10 points to take control with 12:05 left to play. West Liberty led by as many 31 points and got 23 points each from Falk and Cedric Harris. The Hilltoppers shot 51.4 percent.

Winona senior forward Clayton Vette was effective early but fouled out late and picked up a technical foul on his final college play. The Iowa State transfer and NABC player of the year finished with 14 points — 6.7 below his average.

“He’s quick and drop-stepped us a couple of times and got to the basket,” Crutchfield said. “If he doesn’t drop-step you, he slowly pushes in. It was a major effort to get him stopped. We started double-teaming him more in the second half because it was a big problem.”

It was a frustrating day for Winona coach Mike Leaf, who picked up a technical foul four seconds before Vette. The Warriors had 21 turnovers that West Liberty converted into 32 points. The Hilltoppers had only seven turnovers resulting in 10 Winona points.

“We ran into a tough team,” Leaf said. “The full-court press, especially early on, gave us some troubles.”